Postgraduate medicine
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Postgraduate medicine · Jul 2014
The economic burden of diagnosed opioid abuse among commercially insured individuals.
The abuse of prescription opioids imposes a substantial public health and economic burden. Recent research using administrative claims data has substantiated the prevalence and cost of opioid abuse among commercially insured individuals. Although administrative claims data are readily available and have been used to effectively answer research questions about the burden of illness for many different conditions, an important issue is the reliability, replicability, and generalizability of estimates derived from different databases. ⋯ Although the prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse was higher than reported in the original analysis, the trend of increasing prevalence over time was consistent across analyses. Additionally, diagnosed abusers had excess annual per patient health care costs of $11,376 in the replication analysis, which was consistent with the excess annual per patient health care costs of diagnosed abuse of $10,627 reported in the original analysis. The replication analysis also found an upward trend in the prevalence of diagnosed opioid abuse over time and substantial excess annual per patient health care costs of diagnosed opioid abuse among commercially insured individuals, suggesting that these findings are generalizable to other commercially insured populations.
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Postgraduate medicine · Jul 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of subjective effects of extended-release versus immediate-release oxycodone/acetaminophen tablets in healthy nondependent recreational users of prescription opioids: a randomized trial.
Prescription opioids have substantial abuse potential. This study compared the positive subjective drug effects of a newly developed extended-release (ER) oxycodone (OC)/acetaminophen (acetyl-para-aminophenol [APAP]) formulation with those of immediate-release (IR) OC/APAP. ⋯ This phase 1 study conducted in the United States was not registered.
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Postgraduate medicine · Jul 2014
A review of the literature on multiple factors involved in postoperative pain course and duration.
To review the literature on the progression from acute to chronic postoperative pain, to evaluate the evidence for the risk of progressing to persistent postoperative and chronic pain, and to identify characteristics of pharmacologic treatments to best tailor therapy to an individual patient's pain profile. ⋯ Advances in individualized pharmacologic treatment for postoperative pain have resulted in better pain control. Moreover, the recognition of sub-acute pain as a new entity is important because many surgical patients will need therapy beyond the first 8 days after surgery. In this group of patients the diagnosis of a neuropathic pain component will be important so that appropriate multimodal therapy may be implemented.
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Postgraduate medicine · Jul 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyThe management of acute hypertension in patients with renal dysfunction: labetalol or nicardipine?
To compare the safety and efficacy of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-recommended doses of labetalol and nicardipine for hypertension (HTN) management in a subset of patients with renal dysfunction (RD). ⋯ Within 30 minutes of administration, nicardipine is more efficacious than labetalol for acute blood pressure control in patients with RD.
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Postgraduate medicine · Jul 2014
Review Case ReportsCombining opioid and adrenergic mechanisms for chronic pain.
Chronic pain is a highly prevalent medical problem in the United States. Although opioids and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have demonstrated efficacy for relief of chronic pain, each has risks of adverse events in patients. Because of the risk of opioid abuse and addiction, combinations reducing opioid requirements are particularly valuable. ⋯ A number of factors affect whether specific combinations have additive, synergistic, less than additive efficacy, or increase adverse events in patients, including general pharmacokinetic considerations, the potential for pharmacodynamic drug interactions, dose, and timing. Because there is little clinical evidence guiding combination therapy with separate opioid and SNRI agents, using single-molecule agents provides safe and effective therapy and should be the first option presented to patients. The use of empiric combinations of separate opioid and SNRI combinations needs to be considered in light of clinical cautions, including the lack of published evidence to guide dose conversion from any opioid to tramadol or to tapentadol, and vice versa; the need to avoid combinations with known drug interactions; and the need to titrate the dose when adding an SNRI to an opioid, and vice versa.